Excavating apparatus.



PATENTED MAY 22, 1906.

P. H. WHITE. EXOAVATING APPARATUS APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, 1905.

Paul H. White No. 821,271. PATENTEDMAY, 22, 1906. P. H. WHITE.

EXGAVA-TING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 10, 1905.

A ("Inventor By Paul H. White v 1 l W I Ho'mmw/ inn F r" n btll it Pnrllillllhl ll @hlFllCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

WHHE, or iNDiAuAroLIs. INDIANA- Patented May '22, 1906.

Application filed July 10,1905 Serial No. 269,046.

To all whom i may concern:

Be it known that 1, PAUL H. W nrc, a citizen of the United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Excavating Appagatus, of which the following is a specification.

The principal object of my present invention is to. provide a simple and inexpensive apparatus by means of which material, as sand or gravel, may be excavated from a gravel-pit or other suitable source of supply and drawn therefrom andloaded onto cars with a minimum of manual labor. A further object ofsai d invention is to ut: lize the locomotive by means of which the cars are handled as'tlie motor for operating the apparetus.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an apparatus embodying my said invention.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of such an apparatus, showing a railway-track, a gravelpit alongside said track, and an eX- cavating and car-loading apparatus arranged to be operated by a locomotive running on said track; Fig. 2-, aside elevation of the incline and excavating and car-loading apparatus, taken transversely of the railwaytrack 5 Fig. 3, a top or plan view of the excavator and carrier which I employ in carrying out my invention, the parts bei 11g 5 n the position they occupy just before. it has taken on its load; Fig. 4, a side elevation of the same, the position of the parts after the load has been taken on being indicated by means of dotted lines; Fig. 5, a central longitudinal sectional View with the floor in the position it occupies just after the load has been charged and the other parts l. .ig in the positionthey occupy afterthe dew. ce has started on its return trip to the pit and the bail and catch have become reengaged, and Fig. 6 a transverse vertical sectional view as seen when looking in the direction indicated by the a-rrowsfrom the dotted line 6 6 in Fig. 4.

An inclined track 21 leads pit 22 up to a trestle 23, erected over the railway-track 24. Sai d trestle-work i s of such a size and character that a gravel-car 2.5 may pass through under it on the track 24, and the inclined track 21 terminates in said trestle-work at a sufficient elevation to enable the excavator and carrier to be dis charged onto said car when itreaches the end 1 of its travel. This inclined track 21. should have horizontal ends or terminals 26- extendf The excavator and carrier from the graveh connect and support the sides rigidly and ing into the trestle-work a short distance, both so that the excavator and carrier may reach a horizontal. position before being caused to'discharge its load and also arrive to the correct position relatively to the car. The trestle has a second set of track members 27, which support the excavator and carrier during'the load-discharging operation.

The lpcomotive 30 runs back and forth along the railway-track 24 and pulls the ex cavator and carrier up and down the incline as the work progresses. The locomotive may of course be of any type, and any suit able engine may be substituted therefor which is adapted to pull the propelling-ropes back and forth. I have therefore notattempted to show th's feature in detail, but

have shown simply a conventional illustration of an electric locomotive.

A suitable connection, as aro e or wire cable 31, connects one end of the ocomotive or engine to the excavator and carrier, said rope running over suitable sheaves and pulleys or drums 32 and 33, which are preferably carried upon the trestle 23. 32 is preferably a sheave, and 33 is preferably a drum extending" ent rely across the trestle-work at one side. Th s rope is connected to the excavator and carrier by suitable connecting dc vices, as chains 34. A second rope 35 is connected to the other end ofthe locomotive and passes thence around a sheave 36, thence off to the far side of the gravel-pit, where it passes around a sheave 37, and thenceto the first-mentioned rope 31, to which it is con: nected preferably at the same point at wh ch the chains 34 are connected thereto. This rope is also connected directly to the opposite or rear end of the excavator and carrier by suitable connections, as chains 38. The connections are so adjusted that the chains of one set are slack when those of the other set are tight.

proper is composed of a. rigidly constructed body portion consisting of the sides 41 and transverse connecting members, as 42, 43, 44, and 45, of such number, character, and arrangement as to strongly. This excavator and carrier also embodies a bottom 46, preferably formed of a plate of metal, and which is pivoted to the sides 41, near their front ends, by ivots 47, upon which it is adapted to swing freely. When the excavator and carrier is loaded and duringthe time it isbeing pulled fTOmiE the excavator and carrier I secure bearing members 48, and these run onto said independent track members 27 just before the ottom 46 passes off the terminals 26 of the main tracks 21. T he consequence is that the structure is supported by these parts 2? and 48 during the discharging or dumping operation. Said operation takes place at the instant the bottom escapes from the terini nals 26, at which instant said bottom swings down to the position shown in Fig. 5, permitting the load to fall into the car, as will be clearly understood. As this excavator and carrier operates automatically, it is capable of takin its load below the water-line in the grave pit, and consequently I am enabled to excavate to a much greater depth than is possible where the gravel is taken by ordi v in of this excavator and the termination of chains which are pivoted to are connected (as by ing bail 54. This bail extends back to near nary shoveling. It can also be used to take gravel from the bed of a river or other natural or artificial body of water.

In order to provide for the automatic loadsaid loading when it is fully loaded, Ihave designed a peculiar draft apparatus. The 34 are attached to swinging links 51, the lower front ends of the sides'41 of the excavator, the point of attachment being some distance above said pivotal point, as at 52. These links continue beyond the attachment-points 52 and loops 53) to the swingthe rear end of the excavator and is adapted to be held down during the loadingoperationby a catch 55. Said catch is normally held into engagement with said bail by the weight of a trip-board 56, which hangs down below the pivot 57 on which said catch is -mounted, this being also preferably reinforced by a tension-spring 58. The bail holds the draft devices up into the relation illustrated by Fig. 4 until the loading is completed, when the material coming against the trip-board 56 forces the catch out of engagement'with said bail, permitting said bail to' 11 up into the position shown by the dotted ines in Fig. 4 and bringing the draft devices also into the relation shown by said dotted lines. During the time the draft devices ocpupy the position shown by the full lines in Fig. 4 the tendency is to cause the front edge of the bottom 46 to incline downwardly and make it dig into the material to be loaded; but when the draft devices are in the relati'on indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 4

the tendency is to draw the excavator up onto the top of the material, so thatit will take on I no more load. This change takes place of course immediately the excavator and car'- rier is filled, and the apparatus remains in mination of its travel in the trestle-work, where its load is discharged, as before described. This movement is accomplished while the locomotive is traveling away from the car or the engine (of any character) is winding up or pulling upon the rope 31. That portion of the bail 54 near where it is pivoted to the sides 41 is curved, and the curved portions serve as runners in passing over obstructions. As they project below the bottom 46 they also serve as guides when in contact with the sides of the rails 21.

When the discharging of the load of the'excavator has taken place, the locomotive or engine is reversed, slacking the rope 31 and pulling upon the rope 35. This pulls the excavator and loader back into the pit as near as is desired to the sheav 37. v The travel of the locomotive or engine is at this point again reversed. The first operation is that the pivoted bottom 46 catches in the bottom of the gravel-pit, and the remainder of the structure is pulled up over it, so that said bottom is shut. During the rearward travel the rope 35 has I ulled bail 54 down into engagement with t e catch 55. The apparatus is again ready for loading in the way before described, and these operations are repeated over and over again until the desired amount of Work has been accomplished.

'abled by the use of this apparatus to excavate material to a much greater depth, and consequently in much larger uantities, from an ordinary gravel-pit, than as been possible by the ordinary means of loading cars by shoveling. I am also enabled to do it much more economically, as the amount of manual labor required is very small, an enginemanto operate the locomotive or engine and a signalman at the pit being all that is practically necessary. The signalman of course can be the same individual who performs the duties of trainman in hauling off the cars.

- Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An excavating apparatus comprising a railway-track, a locomotive adapted to travel reciprocally along said track, a trestle arranged over said track, a track leading from said trestle to the place whence the material ed to travel reciprocally over said last-named track, flexible connections connected to said excavator and carrier and running thence over suitable pulleys to said locomotive, and said pulleys.

Z. The combination, in an excavator and carrier, of a frame, a bottom pivotally mounted on said frame, and a draft apparatus, said draft apparatus comprising a swinging bail, a

As will be readily. understood, 1 am en this condition 'until it has reached the ter-- is obtained, an excavator and carrier adaptsizimi catch for holding said bail, a member set in paratus, of an excavator and carrier having a the path of the incoming load for disengaging pivoted bottom, a track over which said exsaid catch, and. a link forming the immediate means of draft connected to said bail, Whereby when the bail is held by the catch the excavator is caused to draw into the material and thus become loaded, and when detached from said catch the excavator is caused to draw u out of said material.

3-. T e combination, in an excavator and carrier, of a body, a pivoted bottom, a curved bail, a draft-link governed by said bail, a catch for said bail, and a member connected to said catch positioned in the path of the incoming load and thereby adapted to be operated to release the catch.

4. The combination, in an excavating apcavator and carrier travels whereby the bottom is normally held shut, which said track terminates at the point of discharge or dumpl ing, and a second track onto which said excavator and carrier will pass as it is leaving said first-named track and whereby it will be I susbended during the discharging operation.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, at Indianapolis, Indiana, this 6th day of Jury, A. D.-1905.

; PAUL YH. WHITE. a. 3.

Witnesses:

CHESTER BRADFORD, I JAMES A. WALsI-I. 

